The Silent Lands
by Silver1Gray
Summary: -A post apocalypse horror story.- The main protagonist has been held out by himself for a while, but as fate would have it not for much longer. Does this spell disaster for the protagonist?
1. Prologue

Silence. That's all there ever is, that and the odd groan. Not even the birds sing anymore. The land that was once hustle and bustle has now become desolate and savage. The man made structures that once held us and kept us safe, now claimed by nature. The streets became overgrown in weeds and shrubbery. Rust hangs on old cars and buildings, as if the virus itself was draining the life from them. Remnants of the old life still cling around slightly, like the odd newspaper, the last newspaper I should say. Nothing gets printed these days, Mind you that also means nothing can be swung one way or another. There's also the clothing stores and other materialistic shops still full to the brim. Turns out when the end of the world came, no-one was fussed about fashion or a new t.v. Even though it's desolate, there's a strange aura of peace surrounding the world.

The sun highs high in the sky, and with the wind blowing gently the day sets out to be a peaceful one. The last few months have been hellishly cold, it's only just started to warm up, I'm guessing spring has started to rear it's head. I haven't seen an infected in a good few months now, I'm not sure whether or not they've moved on or just died from starvation or cold. If that's even possible. It's nearly been two years since the infection hit, no-one was expecting it to hit so suddenly, you can say you're prepared but you can never be prepared for an event like this.

I remember the first weeks like they've just passed. Everything after that's just a blur, when you're forced to survive like this, days and nights just become a blur. Hunkered up in an old off-licence, the shutters provided a perfect defense for me. Most of the stock in the store was pillaged the first few nights, i only lived across the road to begin with. But once people started to kill each other instead of just the infected, I decided to stay put until things calmed down. Once the looting stopped i moved in and hunkered down ever since, It's been quite a solid place for me to stay, there's only been one time when an infected got in because i left the door open. That will never happen again. Although there wasn't much food there, i guess people decided that they were going to have to hold out the same as me so got some supplies. I haven't got hot water, or electricity yet. Nor do i have any idea where i'm going to get it from. All i have is my sheepskin sleeping bag, a few choice hand to hand weapons, and a couple of crates of food. I stay there on my own, people would only get in the way. More people means more mouths to feed, more bodies to protect.

Looking at my watch, i check the time, 'plenty of time till sunset.' I think to myself as i carry on walking. I've had to move further out as i've expended and stored all the supplies from around a 5 miles radius. After passing the city i find myself in a suburb, as i'm walking I take note of the street names on the way so i can map out what's empty and what's not. I pack away my notepad and crowbar, and head towards the first house.

Coming up to it, I felt a pang of loneliness and lost hope.

The grass even though overgrown, was bright green and the flowers the owners planted became wild and overgrown. The garden looked like a symphony of nature and colour. Through the center of the garden was the footpath, as i walked along it i stare at the dilapidated house, covered in moss and ivy. The brilliant white paint, now faded and worn chips off the wall. The windows are all broken, and the gate to the back garden is hanging on by a nail.

Walking into the house, the first thing I see is the hallway and stairs. The air is polluted with a damp smell, not pungent, but still lingering. All through the house the floor has weeds and roots pushing their way through. Looking at my watch, I decide not to spend too long looking around and start to see what i can find.

After a few minutes of scavenging, I find a few batteries and a metal baseball bat. With that being all that i could find i head back outside the house and move onto the next one. This has sort of become routine for me. Finding a place, sweeping it, leaving and then all over again. As i'm walking down the street, I reminisce about how things used to be and the life i used to have. I laugh slightly as i remember all those 'Problems' that i used to have. They all seem so silly now.

The alarm on my watch goes off, there's about 2 hours till sun set, time to go. Turning back on myself I start walking back the way I came About an hour into my way back and I notice the sun's setting quicker than i thought it would. Picking up my pace, i start into a jog. I'm around 15 minutes from my hold out, when darkness starts to swallow the land. This is bad. There's no Walkers around, so you don't have to worry about anything in the day. But at night you have the Lurkers.

Horribly grotesque creatures mutated by the virus. They have no eyes but can see using sound, their skin seems highly sensitive to UV light, but unless you've got the sun in your hands, a little flash light won't stop them for long. When i reach the bottom of the street from my hold out, i stop and hide behind a garden fence. Peeking over it i look to see if i can see any Lurkers. Even though the only light available is the dim orange light sapping out the lamppost you can't miss them.

They're about 5ft big, walk on all fours, but have a human like shape, apart from the bodies disfigured, and they heads grossly enlarged. Due to some form of chemical reaction, they're saliva glows a light green. If you ever get to see one up close, with no light whatsoever, all you will be able to see if a pair of glowing razor sharp teeth. It'll probably be the last thing you see as well. Unlike the walkers they're incredibly fast, i've only seen a few people being able to outrun it. All you can do is hide and not make a sound, and hope it didn't spot you. Too add to this horrification of death, they're scales are pretty god damn hard, i've seen people fire pistols at them point blank for the bullet to just bounce off it like it was nothing.

As i slowly work my way up the gardens, quietly hopping over the fences. I reach the house opposite the store. 'Almost there…' I think to myself. Peeking over to make sure there's nothing around i run over to the shutters and open them up quickly, opening the door i get inside. Just before i shut the door i hear the sound of heavy footsteps. Someone running. I look out to the left and right to see if i could see anything. And there at the end of the street i saw someone running with all their might. 'Fuck.' I think to myself as i go to shut the door. "HEY! HELP ME! PLEASE HELP!" The person shouts as they get closer. 'Fuck. What should i do?!' I think as i look towards the ground, when i look back up the persons a bit closer, but what's behind them made my heart sink. A hoard of Lurkers. All savage and mad as hell. There's so many, i can barely count them. Torn on what to do, I freeze in place. I can't let them die?! Can i? What if they're bad? What if they're armed? They might kill me and take all my stuff! ' With every thought the lurkers and survivor get closer and closer. I swear loudly, and shout at them "OVER HERE!" their head snaps towards me and they start running towards the shop, i get ready and slam the shutters down, and lock them into place, as the lock clicks they shake violently with lurkers rampaging against the other side. Shutting and locking the door, I sigh as i watch the shutters rattle. Inhuman groans and roars come from the other side. Great now i have to put up with this all night. Turning around to face the survivor and i'm instantly greeted with a barrel to my face. "Oh, Wonderful…" I say. " So i save your life and this is how you repay me? " I stare at the survivor, she's around my my height. with red hair and brown eyes. "Either way if you shoot me, you're noise will just anger the things outside more, It seems loud noises irritates them."

Walking slowly around the side of her, I jump up and sit on the till desk. He hand shakes slightly as she follows me around with the barrel. "You got a name missus?" I ask, to try and distract her from the situation. She remains silent, her eyes scanning the room. Watching her intently, i shuffle slightly backwards, my hands resting on the edge of the back of the desk. "No name huh?.." I stare at the gun for a few moments. Tilting my head as if i was looking at the side of it, i say "The safeties off you know?" She lowers the gun slightly, and tilts it away to look at the safety switch, grabbing the baseball bat from behind the counter, i swing it at the gun sending it hurtling away from her and colliding with the wall. She jumps back from fright, and i jump off the counter onto my feet, slowly pacing towards her. " I risk my shelter…" i glare at her intently, as I approach. "I risk my life, I risk my food… " lifting up my bat i point it at her "And this is how you repay me?.." Staying silent as ever, she flinches slightly as i swing the bat around subconsciously while i'm thinking. "I should throw you back out there…" I say as I turn to look at the shutters. She stutters a breath and whimpers slightly. "Mind you, I might as well be putting a gun to your face…." I look at her. "So, either you start getting talkative really quickly, or give me a good reason to not feed you to the dogs." After a few moments, she replies.

"Cause you're the first person i've seen in a year.."

"Well then… I guess that's a good enough reason…" I pause to think, When was the last time i saw a living person?

Sighing i drop the bat to my side, and walk over to the counter, leaning over and putting the bat away, i pick up a bottle of water, and a tin of beans. "Here…" I say as i hand them the food and water. They hurriedly open the tin, as i pass them a fork, and they start scoffing down the food, "You smoke?" i say as i head back to my reserves and get some cigarettes. Sparking one up, I inhale a drag and turn to her. Nodding her head, i throw her a packet. "keep it" i say as it lands next to her. Finishing her food and water, she sparks up a cigarette and we sit in silence for a bit while we smoke. I wonder where she came from, and how did she end up with so many lurkers after her. "You've probably had a rough night, you can sleep through there if you want, there's a few sleeping bags. I'll stay up and keep an eye on the lurkers. Nodding she stands up and heads into the room. Picking up my night binoculars and a few molotov's, I head to the roof, just before I walk through the door, the stranger's head pops round the corner. "It's Taylorjay…" she says timidly. "Dwayne…" she nods and heads back into the room without a word. Shaking my head, wondering about what i've gotten myself into i head up the ladder to the roof.

Opening up the hatch, I pull myself up onto the roof, creeping over the edge i peek over at the lurker. "Eurgh, good job you fuckers can't climb…." I mutter to myself. As i speak their heads instantly point towards me. Putting the molotov's on the floor i light one up then light the rest with the first. "Eat this…" I say as I barrage the lurkers with molotov's. They scream in pain, the high pitch squeal hurts my ears slightly. Some of them run off into the darkness still on fire, others just try harder to reach me. Okay, how about this. I pick up my own concoction i made from some supplies i found in a school science lab. Aiming for the biggest one, i throw it at it hitting its back. As it catches on fire, i wait a few seconds then it starts to squeals even louder. "Hydrosulfric acid hurts like a bitch, don't it?" Laughing slightly, I head downstairs into the store. Grabbing my sleeping bag I head onto the store floor, I perch up behind the counter, and let sleep consume me.

Dreams haunt me as they always do.

(End of Prologue.)

A/n ~*:


	2. Chapter One

The Silent Lands. ((Chapter two))

My dreams haunt me as they always do.

Waking up covered in my own sweat, my knuckles white from my hand grasping onto the bat. What was i dreaming about? Perhaps it's best if i don't remember. Tilting my head back and stretching my neck, I rub the back of it as a yawn escapes my mouth. Looking around at the shutters to make sure everything was in place, i lift myself up and stretch my legs. Grabbing my cigarettes from the side i spark one up and inhale. Looking at the packet, I can't help but smirk. 'Smoking Kills.' The idea that the thing i should be most worried about is the fact that my smoking habit was going to kill me makes me laugh. Putting the packet down, I decide to go get something to eat, hunting through the boxes I find a tin of ravioli and dig in. "Pure fine dining here… Nothing but the best cuisine…" I chuckle to myself. Finishing the can i stick it in the bin, and head to the kitchen/washroom. Getting a water bottle I pour it out into a bowl and wash my face with it, the tepid water doesn't wake me up, just makes me feel clammy. Wiping my face down on a tea towel, I head towards the backdoor to check the fences.

As I head out the door, the sun hits me in the face like a sledge hammer. The light burns my eyes and I have to squint to see for a while. Heading round the back, I walk slowly and check all around to make sure that there's no infected wandering around. One on it's own not so bad, but one brings another, then another , then another. Then I become trapped in here with no way out but through them, that's one thing i'd like to avoid. Nothing around. Good. Checking the padlock on the gate and making sure there's nothing close to the surrounding fences, I head back inside.

It takes a couple of seconds to my eyes to adjust as I walk into the store, the darkness makes me walk into something and i hear it fall against the floor. "Fuck sake.." I mutter to myself. Bending down to pick it up, i inspect the item. It's an padlock with a few keys, I found them in the back of the store when i first checked the place. Sticking it in my pocket to put it somewhere safer, I look to check on my 'guest' I walk down towards the room, and knock on the door frame. "Hello? You up yet?.." peeking my head round the corner, I look to see if she's awake. Strangely in the center of the room, there was a rumpled pile of sleeping bags, but no person. "where the?..." I question myself as I wonder where she's gone then head to the roof to see if i can see her from there.

As i reach the roof i look down the roads, but to no avail. The streets lay as desolate as ever, some dead scattered around at a distance, but there's no living thing there. As I look around at the empty streets, the eerie silence that has made itself at home, makes me hum to break the quiet web of this unburdened land. Shaking my head i head back into the shop, looking at my watch it reads 09:28. 'Time to get going I guess' I think to myself as I sigh. Grabbing my supplies, i open the shutter doors and head outside, closing them behind me.

As i head down the street, the sound of a lone crow curls through the air. I look up at the crow and it's staring at me. Staring right back in it, I feel this sense of dread rising from inside of me. It caw's once more before flying off somewhere, as I try to ignore what just happened i carry on with my walk. Deciding to finally try out the shopping center, I head towards town.

The sun sits in the sky like a vengeful god, but the winds bitter cold blades slice through the sun's heat. As i turn down the road, I see the start of the town or what's left of of it's been claimed by the earth, with trees sprouting up in the middle of houses, some covered in ivy, some just by the grass itself. Which has now overgrown to at least 4"ft It's amazing what the virus did, even though the human populi was savaged by it, it seems that the flora bonded with it on a cellular level, making it grow strong quicker, and more beautiful than ever before. Flowers such as bluebells now glow a fluorescent blue, that reflects of the grass which has become like a dim mirror making the streets flush with luminosity. Rose petals have become as hard as bark so when the wind rushes through them, they create an alluring tone. Walking through this forest of brilliance, You can hear natures symphony as it sings for its victory

Reaching the entrance of the shopping center, I try the doors. Locked, of course they are. Come to think of it, I wonder if there's anyone holding out in there. I mean that girl had to come from somewhere. Peering through the glass, I try to look inside. 'It seems empty enough.' I think to myself.

Heading round the back, I find a service door and try that. Locked. "God dammit…" I turn around to look around for somewhere to get onto the roof. In the process i end up knockin of a basket full of empty glass bottles. As they hit the floor they instantly smash, the noise rings through the area like an echo. "Fuck." I say outloud, as i hurriedly try to find a way up. In the distance I can hear the faint noise of the dead as they shamble and groan,heading towards the noise.

Turning the corner, I run around the shopping center, looking for any point i can get higher up. "Fuck, fuck,fuck, fuck." I repeat as i'm running around desperately searching every area to get up. I pass doors, trying each one, but each is locked. "Shit!"

As i turn the corner i'm pounced on by an infected, the smell almost makes me puke, the guy has his nose missing, and half his face is hanging off. clawing at me, trying to get a hold of me, he snaps his teeth open and shut, frantically trying to bite my flesh. All over his body, lay scars and tears. his clothes dirty and torn. Holding him back with one arm, i fluster around trying to get my bat, grabbing onto the handle I yank it out from my bag and strike it in the side of the head with the handle, as it stumbles backwards i swing back then smack it in the head with all my strength, it's body goes limp and hits the floor. "Fuck…" I pant as the adrenaline kicked in. Looking around I see three more sprinting towards me. I run as fast as i can in the opposite direction.

"Hey! In here!" Shouts a voice, turning my head i look towards the doors on my right, Turning on the spot I dart towards the doors and rush in, the slam of the doors behind me makes me stop and turn around.

As i turn i'm greeting with a barrel in my face, then a click as a bullet loads into the chamber.

"Give me one good reason why i shouldn't blow your head off…" Say a male's voice.


	3. Chapter Two

As i turn i'm greeting with a barrel in my face, then a click as a bullet loads into the chamber.

"Give me one good reason why i shouldn't blow your head off…" Say a male's voice.

As the barrel of his gun hovers by my head, my brain goes into overtime. ' Reasons? Erm, right. .Reason.'

"I could give you plenty of reasons" I say to him and continue " Food being one of them, I mean look at you, you're a bit worse for wear at the moment aren't you?" I lift my hand up slowly, as i stare at him, I keep maintaining eye contact. "Water, I have plenty of water, Ammo,weapons,medicine…" I go on, his gun slightly lowering. 'Got him.' I think to myself as i slowly stand up. "I could tell you which houses are empty in a five mile radius, I could also tell you which cars could still be salvaged if you're a good enough mechanic." As he finally lowers his guard, i snatch the pistol from him and point at it him. He backs off shouting "WOAH NO!" flailing his hands around. Clicking the mag release on his pistol i drop the magazine to the floor and throw him the gun. "Don't be so foolish to use bullets on someone that's not damned."  
"Damned?" says another voice, i turn my head and it came from a young man dressed in a suit. He had brown hair and wore rectangular glasses. "I wouldn't say this is a religious thing to be be perfectly honest."

"Oh? And you know this how?"

"Wel-" i lift my hand up.  
" I was joking. " shaking my head, i look around, there's 4 people here, three guys and one girl. I start to wonder if they've been here the whole time. The third guy walks up to my and offers his hand, he seems in his late 50-60's, his face worn and his eyes tired. "Pleasure to meet you, I'm Robert." I take his hand and shake it. "Dwayne" I nod to him, and gesture to the others. "Anastasia." The girl curtsied

"I'm Steven." He says and offers me his hand, i shake it and turn to the last guy.

"And You would be?..." i ask. He pauses for a second, staring at me. Summing me up, I keep a straight face and continue. "Well? You we're talking fine a minute ago, what happened to you?"  
"That's Kev" chips in Anastasia.

"Good to know!" i clap my hands together. "So is this all of you ?"

"No,no. The others are in the security room. We've got 3 more females and a couple of kids." Says Steven. "They got worried when we saw you trying to get in, gave us all a bit of a scare. We thought you were a bandit."

"well..." I say as i reach into my jacket, pretending to grab a gun. "YOU WERE RIGHT!" I shout as i pull out a knife. Kev jumped back and steven flinched a little, then i burst out laughing. "I'm joking, I'm joking. Let go have a look then, see what you guys are working with." Robert gestures with his hand and we all start walking.

We walk in a slightly awkward silence to begin with, then i break it by asking. " So you got a generator in this place?"  
"We do, but we're running low on petrol for it. We've got about 4 days left if we're lucky."

"It's going to get very cold in here soon then..." I say as i look around to see what stores they have here, D.I.Y places, clothing, some extreme sports. 'God damn, I'm going to be able to get everything i need, These people don't even know they're sitting on a goldmine.' "Unfortunately so yeah, I don't suppose you have any back are your place?" he quizzes me. "Nope, don't even have a generator, plenty of sleeping bags though, but it seems like you guys don't Need them."  
"Nah, we've got a bedding store in here, the survival stores have plenty of sleeping bags as well." I hum at the thought, and muse on what else i could find in here.

We reach the control room and Steven walks in first, follow by Anastasia then Kev, then Robert. As i walk through the door, I'm greeted with scared stares and an eerie atmosphere, my instincts kick in and i pull out my bat. Everyone stares at me with baited breath waiting for me to speak. I drop my head and laugh slightly "Which one of you is infected?..." I say to them. Looking up i see Kev glance at one of the women, she was a brunette with a big fluffy blue jumper on with some joggers and Ugg boots on. Pointing at them with the bat "It's you isn't it?" i point back at Kev with the bat. "Medicine can't help her."

"It does and it will!" he shouts back at me.

"What?..." I ask confused.

"If i may..." Steven intersects. " She was bit a few months ago, we lost a good few people that day. Long story short, she got bit. We tried all sorts to try and stop the infection, but nothing was working. then we tried something called chlordiazepoxide."

"The depressant?"  
"The very same..." He goes on. " We didn't expect it to work, but after a few days. It seemed like she wasn't going to turn, days turn to weeks, weeks turned to months." Steven gestures at the women. " and it worked, I was thinking perhaps the drug stopped it from reaching the central nervous system or the brain, if it takes a while to infect someone other then after a few hours, it could be an incubation type." as he speaks i walk over to the women. Kev steps foward as i move towards her but i hold out my hand. "Don't worry superman, I aint gonna harm your louis." I grin.

"But when someone gets bit, they turn within hours. So mabye the drug slows it down enough to kill it before it does any real damage?" Steven speculates.

"have you tried any other tests since then?"

"if you mean has anyone else has been bitten, then no..." his voice slightly snarling.

"Just asking! " I hold up my hands. "M'dear, my I see the wound please?" I ask politely. She seemed nervous to begin with but nodded and pulls down the side of her collar over her shoulder. The wound is like a miniature bear trap would, although " This has been cleaned and patched really well... Who did this?.." I enquire. Thats when one of the other women speak. "That would be mean, i would have been a doctor if this whole catastrophe never happened..." She sighs.

"Well, you certainly got your chance to save people... That should be enough..."  
"I guess..." She replies.

"so is this it? This is the last of your group?" I ask Steven. He nods and replies.  
"yeah, Why?"

"I came across a girl before, i helped her out like you guys did to me. The only difference is she was gone before i even realised. When i saw you guys, i figured she might have been with you. "

"No sorry man..." He shakes his head.

"Allwell, I'm sure she'll be fine.. " Looking at my watch it's 13:33. "SO i have supplies, you have a fortress. The only problem is, how do we get it ALL here. One trip would be the best idea, but that's a lot of stuff. I'm guessing only 4 of you will come with me as well, considering it was only four of you defending the fort when something came knocking." Steven smiles and goes up to the control panel and clicks a button, one of the T.V screens flickers into life and it shows the CCTV camera in the parking lot. most of the cars a damaged but there's on that looks like it hasn't been touched.

"Oh yeah... that'll work..." I smile as a plan starts to form.

\- End of Chapter Two. - -

A/N


End file.
